AN Asian man was found lying in a pool of blood after being punched, kicked and head-butted in an apparent unprovoked racist attack.

Father-of-three Parvez Iqbal suffered a fractured cheekbone and was left battered and bruised by the attacker, who struck as Mr Iqbal cycled home from work in Worcester.

The Reality worker was waiting at traffic lights on Tuesday evening, when the attacker screamed, "stop you Paki", before running towards him and head-butting him in the face.

The 46-year-old victim, who speaks little English, and is from the Wyld's Lane area, tried to escape, but was pushed from his bike and assaulted before the attacker ran off, outside the Bull Ring, in St John's.

Passers-by held tissues to Mr Iqbal's face to help stem the blood before an ambulance arrived.

His cousin, Ishtiaq Lone, who is helping his family and children through this ordeal, said they were all shaken by the attack.

"The man was shouting, 'Paki', and telling my cousin to stop," said Mr Lone.

"He looked back and he was then head-butted in the face. He fell, but managed to get back on the bike.

"He was then shoved off the cycle, before being kicked in the ribs, on his arms and the inside of his legs.

"We can't understand why anyone would have wanted to attack him - he's such a gentle man, he's never even hurt a fly."

In another racist attack earlier this month, Spanish students vowed never to return to Worcester, after two of their group were attacked.

Chief executive of Worcestershire Racial Equality Council, Mohammed Aslam, said he feared racist incidents were on the increase in the city.

"It is a terrible situation that seems to be growing a great deal," he said.

Police confirmed a man had been arrested in connection with the latest attack and were not currently treating the incident as racially-motivated.